Technologies · Systems · Solutions - Dürr

Amounts in €m
Total incoming
2004 2003
orders 809.2 1,400.1
Total sales 1,154.5 1,250.2
EBITDA 39.6 41.3
EBT
Capital
28.3 29.3
expenditures1 8.5 8.6
Employees (Dec. 31) 2,690 2,808
1 On property, plant and equipment and
intangible assets
Consolidated management report
amounted to € 23.0 million and was thus below the previous year’s figure (€ 26.6 million).
The critical factor here is that a majority of the capital expenditures in 2004
were made in the fourth quarter. EBITDA for discontinued operations amounted to
€ 4.1 million (previous year: € –0.6 million).
57
Finance costs, calculated on the basis of income or loss from associated companies
and other investment income as well as interest expenses and income, amounted to
€ –24.0 million in continuing operations, after € –20.6 million in the previous year. This
is due to higher interest expenses resulting from the new financing structure and to
higher average net financial debt.
As of December 31, 2004, net financial debt in continuing operations stood at € 242.8
million, after € 101.5 million on the previous year’s balance sheet date. However, this
significant difference is a reporting date effect. We received above-average customer
prepayments at the end of 2003, which reduced net financial debt as of December 31
correspondingly.
Finance income in discontinued operations amounted to € 0.2 million in 2004 (previous
year: € 0.1 million). As of December 31, 2004, discontinued operations had positive
net financial balances of € 4.9 million (previous year: € 4.5 million).
Net income in continuing operations rose in 2004 to € 11.6 million (previous year: net
loss of € 22.0 million). Discontinued operations reported a net loss of € 6.9 million due
primarily to write-downs (previous year: net loss of € 8.3 million). The result for the
Group is net income of € 4.7 million. In the previous year, the Group reported a net loss
of € 30.3 million due to restructuring expenses and the non-capitalization of deferred
tax assets on unused tax losses in the amount of € 23.0 million. In continuing operations,
we achieved earnings per share of € 0.88, after € –1.56 in the previous year.
Discontinued operations, by contrast, show earnings per share of € –0.48 (previous
year: € –0.58).
Business units: Continuing operations
Paint Systems
The Paint Systems business unit received large orders in 2004 from Germany, China,
and Australia as well as the Eastern European growth markets of Russia and Slovakia.
However, the automotive industry’s overall capital spending in the field of painting
technology did not reach the previous years’ level, particularly in Europe, the United
States, and South America. Thus, total incoming orders returned to their normal level
as expected after having been far above average in 2003 due to a package order from
General Motors. At € 28.3 million, earnings before taxes were just under the previous
year’s level, although total sales declined to € 1,154.5 million. As a result, the return
on sales improved to 2.5% (previous year: 2.3%). A substantial contribution came
from product standardization under the program. In addition, significant earnings
growth was achieved in the Environmental Systems product line. At € 8.5 million,
capital expenditures on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets were of
the same order of magnitude as in the previous year. The main items were new developments
in application technology and the construction of a test facility for further
development of the RoDip dip-painting process. The number of employees dropped
to 2,690, primarily due to capacity adjustments in France and South America.